The case for cockroach milk: The next

superfood?
By Ben Guarino, Washington Post on 02.08.17
Word Count 609
Level MAX

A close-up of an American cockroach. Mike Keeling, Flickr.

The milk crystals of the Pacic beetle cockroach are beautiful. Slice open an embryonic roach
under a microscope, and the crystals spill out in a shower of nutrient-dense glitter.

But the avor of cockroach milk is nothing to write home about. Subramanian Ramaswamy, a
biochemist at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Bangalore,
India, told The Washington Post as much early Tuesday. As a party dare he'd lost a drinking
competition one of Ramaswamy's colleagues once ate a sprinkling of the crystals.

"He said it doesn't taste like anything special," Ramaswamy said.

Most roaches lay eggs. Not the Pacic beetle cockroach. It gives birth to live young, sort of like
humans if we kept babies by the dozen in eshy organs called brood sacs. Also like humans,
mother Pacic beetle cockroaches produce food for their ospring. The embryos dine on a
liquid substance packed with fats, sugars and protein. You can think of this like cockroach
milk.

It gets weirder.

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Insect experts have long known that this cockroach species secreted liquid food. But they
thought baby roaches simply digested the stu. When Barbara Stay, a zoologist at the
University of Iowa, rst stumbled upon a cache of crystals tucked inside the embryos,
scientists were stumped.

"We didn't believe these crystals were actually protein crystals," Ramaswamy said.

Close inspection of the crystals using X-rays proved otherwise. Experiments suggest that
cockroach milk is among the most nutritious and highly caloric substances on the planet,
according to research published recently in the journal for the International Union of
Crystallography, IUCRJ. Pound-for-pound, cockroach milk crystals contain three times more
energy than bualo milk, according to the analysis by Ramaswamy and his colleagues.
Bualoes, he said, were the previous top contenders for producing a protein with the most
calories.

"It's a complete food," Ramaswamy said of the roach crystals. In the brood sac, the embryos
gulp down the liquid. There, the proteins turn to hard crystals in their guts. Nothing is wasted
"the mouth is open and the backside is closed," as Ramaswamy described the embryos.
Within the sac, the baby roaches rely on these concentrated nutrients to grow large with an
alien speed.

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The discovery comes at a time when dairy milk is under increasing environmental scrutiny, as
cow burps add to greenhouse gases. Alternatives like almond milk, too, have not always fared
better; growing the nuts is a famously water-intensive process.

So what about a roach drink? When asked if the energy-ecient cockroach crystals might end
up in more human mouths, Ramaswamy described the potential as fantastic. "I could see
them in protein drinks," he said. Then he described the hurdles.

Lacking nipples, cockroaches cannot be milked in the county fair sense. A cockroach-inspired
thirst-quencher, if it ever existed, would more likely come via yeast, he said. Bioengineered
yeast is already used in the food industry to produce synthetic sweeteners, for instance.

Plus, the roach brand is bad for business.

"I don't think anyone is going to like it if you tell them, 'We extracted crystals from a cockroach,
and that is going to be food,'" Ramaswamy said. Further examination of the crystals will also
tell if the roach crystals are toxic to humans.

The researchers certainly did not set out to nd the next great protein shake. "In the U.S. there
is a big thrust that all research has to be translational," he said, meaning directly applicable to
human health. "This was just born out of curiosity."

Whether curiosity can kill the Western aversion to drinking bug milk remains to be seen.

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Quiz

1 Read the summary below. Choose the answer that BEST completes the summary.

Scientists discovered that when cockroaches make food for their

babies, they also make milk crystals. The milk crystals are one of the
most nutritious foods on the planet. They could be used to make
drinks for people, but the drinks would have to be made by scientists.

(A) Many people would be curious about the idea of drinking cockroach milk.

(B) Also, people may not like the idea of drinking cockroach milk.

(C) Scientists are experimenting with ways to extract cockroach milk.

(D) Researchers were trying to nd the next protein shake.

2 Choose the paragraph that describes the MAIN problem with using cockroach milk in protein
drinks.

(A) But the avor of cockroach milk is nothing to write home about. Subramanian
Ramaswamy, a biochemist at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and
Regenerative Medicine in Bangalore, India, told The Washington Post as much
early Tuesday. As a party dare he'd lost a drinking competition one of
Ramaswamy's colleagues once ate a sprinkling of the crystals.

(B) The discovery comes at a time when dairy milk is under increasing
environmental scrutiny, as cow burps add to greenhouse gases. Alternatives
like almond milk, too, have not always fared better; growing the nuts is a
famously water-intensive process.

(C) Lacking nipples, cockroaches cannot be milked in the county fair sense. A
cockroach-inspired thirst-quencher, if it ever existed, would more likely come
via yeast, he said. Bioengineered yeast is already used in the food industry to
produce synthetic sweeteners, for instance.

(D) The researchers certainly did not set out to nd the next great protein shake. "In
the U.S. there is a big thrust that all research has to be translational," he said,
meaning directly applicable to human health. "This was just born out of
curiosity."

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3 Which answer choice most accurately characterizes Ramaswamy's view on the potential of
cockroach milk?

(A) He thinks the energy-ecient crystals are a fantastic source of protein, but
realizes there are some concerns involved.

(B) He thinks the energy-ecient crystals would be good for business even if
people realized where the protein came from.

(C) He thinks the energy-ecient crystals have great potential and the food industry
should consider using them in protein drinks.

(D) He thinks because the discovery of this energy-ecient protein was accidental
it should not be researched further.

4 What is the MOST likely reason the author included details about cow's milk and almond milk?

(A) to show there are already better alternatives to drinking cockroach milk

(B) to show how cockroach milk doesn't harm the environment as other alternatives
do

(C) to show how people might feel about drinking milk that comes from
cockroaches

(D) to show potential hurdles with using cockroach milk compared to other
alternatives

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